American Standard
I didn’t laugh when Charlie Kirk died. And I didn’t crow either. No one should die at the end of a rifle barrel, or on the tip of a blade. Even those that I oppose politically and morally, I don’t want physically dead. Isn’t that the essence of civic contests? We want our view to prevail, but we don’t want our opponent in a coffin. In fact, as the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania showed, the “shadow of death” changes everything, even Presidential elections.
What we should expect in American political discourse is that we will fight for our beliefs, and our opposition will fight for theirs. But when we face the common opponent of extreme violence, we should stand together to oppose it. That’s where America has been. John McCain made it clear in 2008, when he spoke out against the old woman who called Obama an “Arab”. He said, “No ma’am, he’s a decent family man and a citizen. I just disagree with him on important issues.”
Abraham Lincoln made this clear. He did not call for the execution of Davis and Lee and the other leaders of the Confederacy. He set the American standard in his second inaugural address.
“With malice toward none, with charity for all.”
Reiner
Donald Trump is a citizen, and now President. I don’t wish him dead, though I do wish him out of office. I will do all I can to achieve the latter, not the former.
Last weekend, Rob Reiner and his wife were stabbed to death in their home. Today, it seems likely that their own son committed the deed. Reiner was one of the most talented movie makers of our generation. He made dozens, some that defined their decade. Reiner directed “Stand By Me”, “A Few Good Men”, “This is Spinal Tap”, and “When Harry Met Sally”. And for an earlier generation, he was the actor who starred as “Meathead” on the seminal comedy series, “All in the Family”.
Reiner was also a Progressive political warrior. He fought for all sorts of progressive causes, and saw Donald Trump as a massive threat to American Democracy. He and the President were not on the same side.
Failed
In the moment of death, it is a mark of leadership to show “grace” to your opponents. Here’s what Donald Trump said:
“Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and uncurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS…”
This is the President of the United States, after the brutal murder of an American citizen, perhaps, at the hand of his own son. Trump makes it clear: dare oppose me, and create anger enough to be killed. There: it is the “unspoken threat”, spoken aloud.
And, for my truly MAGA friends – this isn’t an “AI” hoax. These are the words of the 47th President (or, at least the words of those who Trump empowered to write for the 47th President). They remain, two days later, still on Trump’s own social media site, “Truth Social”.
Grace
President Obama often was able to put into words the grief of the Nation. Joe Biden took his own personal grief, and shared the burden of loss with those loved ones in mourning. President Bush was able to rally a Nation after 9-11 without calling for a war against religion. But President Trump, well, he claims that Reiner was killed for his “Trump Derangement Syndrome”.
There is the obvious egocentricity in that: it’s all about Trump. It looks likely now, the gruesome crime was not. But more significantly for the Nation, there is an obvious lack of grace. And, this is not some post from a local teacher, or the ranting of some social media addicted shut-in, rejoicing about the death of Charlie Kirk. (There were a few). This is the President of the United States, leading our Nation, setting the example of how Americans should deal with political conflict and real tragedy.
There is no “grace” in Donald Trump. His own near miss with death did nothing to make him a better human. What it left is a President who takes pleasure in the death of those who oppose him. What could be more un-American?
